CAIE A Level 9699

Sociology 2023 · May/June · Paper 22

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This CAIE A Level Sociology paper focuses on the sociology of the family, especially changing family patterns, gender roles, feminism, class, childhood, and the functions of the family in modern society. Students can expect structured short-answer questions that ask them to describe and explain sociological ideas, followed by longer evaluative essays that require balanced argument, evidence, and clear conclusions; there are no calculation or multiple-choice questions in this paper style.…

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Questions & Model Answers 7 Qs

Q1
Short Answer 4 marks
Describe two reasons women are now marrying at a later age.
Women are staying in education longer and therefore marrying later.
Extended education delays entry into marriage.
Women are pursuing careers and financial independence before marriage.
Employment and economic independence reduce pressure to marry early.
Q2a
Structured 8 marks
Explain two ways capitalism benefits from the role of women in the family.
Women perform unpaid domestic labour, which reproduces and maintains the labour force at little cost to capitalism.
This reduces the amount employers and the state must spend on workers' upkeep.
Women socialise children into acceptance of hierarchy and obedience, helping to produce a compliant future workforce.
Marxists argue the family helps reproduce capitalist ideology across generations.
Q2b
Structured 6 marks
Explain two strengths of Marxist feminist views of the family.
Marxist feminism highlights how the family can exploit women through unpaid domestic labour and emotional work.
This is a strength because it draws attention to hidden inequalities within the family.
It links family life to wider structures of capitalism, showing that gender inequality is connected to economic inequality.
This provides a broader explanation than approaches that focus only on individual relationships.
Q3a
Structured 10 marks
The family has experienced a loss of functions. Explain this view.
The family has lost many of its traditional functions to other institutions such as education, the welfare state, and the health service.
This is the core of the functionalist view of the loss of functions.
For example, education now takes over much of the socialisation and training of children.
Schools now perform tasks once mainly carried out by families.
The welfare state and other agencies now provide support for the sick, elderly, and unemployed.
This reduces the family's role in care and support.
The family is also less important as an economic unit because production has moved out of the home.
Industrialisation separated work from home life.
Q3b
Structured 6 marks
Using sociological material, give one argument against this view.
The family has not simply lost functions; instead, some functions have become more specialised and important, such as emotional support and primary socialisation.
This challenges the idea that the family is no longer functional.
Feminists argue that the family still performs key functions for capitalism, such as reproducing labour power and maintaining patriarchy.
This suggests the family remains important rather than functionless.
Q4
Essay 26 marks
Evaluate the view that social class is the main factor affecting the experiences of children in the family.
Children's experiences are strongly shaped by social class because class affects income, housing, diet, educational opportunities, and access to leisure and cultural capital.
This supports the view that class is a major influence.
Middle-class children often benefit from more resources, parental involvement in education, and greater expectations of success, while working-class children may face material deprivation and fewer opportunities.
These differences show how class can shape childhood experiences.
However, gender also affects children's experiences, as boys and girls may be treated differently within the family through gender socialisation and unequal expectations.
This is a key alternative factor.
Ethnicity, family structure, and parental attitudes can also influence childhood experiences, so social class is not always the main factor.
Evaluation should consider other influences alongside class.
Q5
Essay 26 marks
Evaluate the view that increasing family diversity means the nuclear family is no longer dominant.
Family diversity has increased through lone-parent families, reconstituted families, same-sex families, cohabitation, and childless couples, which suggests the nuclear family is less dominant than before.
This supports the view that family forms have become more varied.
Postmodernists argue that there is no single dominant family type because individuals now choose from a range of family forms based on personal preference.
This directly supports the idea of declining nuclear family dominance.
However, the nuclear family may still be the most common or culturally idealised family form in many societies.
Dominance can refer to prevalence or social norms, not just diversity.
New Right thinkers argue that the nuclear family remains the best and most stable family type, and policies and media representations may continue to privilege it.
This is a strong counter-argument against the view.
Paper Details
Board CAIE
Level A Level
Subject Sociology
Code 9699
Year 2023
Session May/June
Paper No. Paper 22
Q&A 7 questions
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